AboutLionni
Leo Lionni was born in Amsterdam in 1910, to an eclectic family of varied passions and talents. [i] His father was an Italian-Jewish diamond cutter and accountant, his mother was a Dutch-Christian opera singer, and his brothers were budding artists that hung art everywhere around the house. His childhood immersion of art and emphasis on learning allowed him to grow up slowly, discovering the world one object at a time. Here Lionni became an amateur collector of small things, examining the natural order of life through seeds, tadpoles, and shells from nearby tide pools. His family encouraged these early endeavors in biology and collection, which imitated their exaggerated view of art and life. [ii]
Lionni briefly moved to Philadelphia when he was 14, then began a series of moves to Brussels, Genoa, Zurich, and Milan. [iii] After finishing school, Lionni becomes a Renaissance man in the truest sense, painting Futurist works, dabbling in cinematography, architecture, exhibit design, and pursuing a career in graphic design. While in Italy, Lionni met his wife, Nora Maffi, who sparked in Lionni an interest in politics. [iv] During this time, Italy was associated with forces of fascism, fear, and exploitation, whereas Lionni became involved in the underground Communist Party, influenced by Maffi’s father, who was one of the founders of the Italian Communist Party. Lionni’s combination of being a member of the Communist Party along with being Jewish became increasingly more dangerous with the massing of Hitler’s troops, so Lionni immigrated to America in 1939.
Traveling back to Philadelphia, he acquired a job as an assistant at N.W. Ayer, a large ad agency that offered night classes in typography and design where Lionni learned the trade of art advertisement. The political turmoil of Nazism and Fascism impressed upon Lionni the importance that, “…all human acts have social and political consequences.” [v] In order to convey a sense of social responsibility through his art, he became concerned with the balance of
commercial success verses democratic principles. Because of this, Lionni refused to work on his first big break as an advertisement designer, an AT & T advertisement campaign warning the evils of socialism in the early 1940s. [vi] Fortunately, Lionni was popular with his fellow workers, and later proved his value by his fast paced work ethic, skill with print technology, and coining the campaign slogan for Ladies’ Home Journal, “Never underestimate the power of a woman.” [vii] Ford also chose Lionni’s art proposal for mass-produced goods, claiming he brought a European-looking modernist flair.
The increased popularity of Lionni’s style provided him multiple job offers from other firms. Preferring the “bohemian atmosphere” of Philadelphia, Lionni decided to stay with Ayer, but on his own conditions. [viii] He wanted to become “freer”, and include more variety into his work. In 1948, Lionni was promoted to creative director of Ayer, providing him with the artistic autonomy he desired for two additional years. [ix]
As compliant as Ayer was, Lionni left the company in 1952 to begin his own firm in New York, determined to create more design freedom for himself. [x] Here Lionni remade American graphic design. His most memorable accomplishments include creating the catalogue for the Family of Man exhibit and his famous children book’s cover for Going for a Walk with a Line. [xi] Lured back to the corporate sphere, he became the art director of Fortune magazine, edited Print, a trade magazine, and chaired the First International Design Conference at Aspen.
At the age of fifty Lionni quit the corporate world for good. He moved to Italy in 1960 and, while commuting with his grandchildren, needed to entertain them. [xii] He began tearing off pieces of Life magazine and created a story based on the collaged paper. [xiii] Returning home, Lionni drafted the story from the train, publishing it as Little Blue and Little Yellow, and becoming a children’s picture book author. Writing and illustrating an additional 41 children’s books, Lionni’s works have earned him the 1984 American Institute of Graphic Arts Gold Medal, the 1965 Deutscher Jungenliteraturpreis (German Children’s Literature Award) and was a four-time Caldecott Honor Winner for Inch by Inch (1961), Swimmy (1964), Frederick (1968), and Alexander and the Wind-Up Mouse (1970). [xiv]
Swimmy became the turning point in Lionni’s career as a children’s author. He described Swimmy as the “…first real fable, which in no time became the role model for most of the books that were to follow.” [xv] His books are visually stimulating; utilizing earth-toned collage, similar to Eric Carle’s works, they center on animal heroes as contemporary parables. [xvi] Creating children’s books became as important to Lionni as painting or sculpture. In his autobiography, Lionni explains that, “It is the true genius of the artist which permits him to create picture images that convey much deeper meaning than what is overtly depicted.” [xvii]
In his older age, Lionni earned his doctorate in economics, wrote Parallel Botany (1977), an imaginary taxonomy of botanical discoveries, worked in bronze sculpture, and finally published his critically acclaimed autobiography, Between Worlds (1997). [xviii] After suffering from Parkinson’s disease, Leo Lionni died October 17, 1999 at the age of 89.
References:
Arnold, Linda. "PROFILE: Leo Lionni: Modern Fabulist." Language Arts 53.6 (1976): 704-8. Print.
Bader, Barbara. "Lionni x 2." Horn Book Magazine 74.3 (1998): 323-7. Print.
Heller, Steven. "Leo Lionni." AIGA. American Institute of Graphic Arts, 1984. Web. 11 Feb. 2015. <http://www.aiga.org/medalist-leolionni/>.
Heller, Steven. "Leo Lionni, 89, Dies, Versatile Creator of Children's Books." The New York Times. The New York Times, 16 Oct. 1999. Web. 13 Feb. 2015. <http://www.nytimes.com/1999/10/17/nyregion/leo-lionni-89-dies-versatile-creator-of-children-s-books.html?pagewanted=2>.
Lears, Jackson. Fables of Abundance: A Cultural History of Advertising in America. New York, NY: Basic, 1994. Print.
Paley, Vivian Gussin. "Inside the Chagall." Nation 264.21 (1997): 25-6. Print.
Random House Kids. Leo Lionni. Penguin Random House, n.d. Web. 13 Feb. 2015. <http://www.randomhousekids.com/brand/leo-lionni/about-leo-lionni/>.
Simon Cahn, Annabelle. "Leo Lionni, Artist and Philosopher." Children's Literature 2.1 (1973): 123-129. Project MUSE. Wed. 12 Feb. 2015. <https://muse.jhu.edu/>.
[i] Paley, pg. 25
[ii] Paley, pg. 25
[iii] Bader, pg. 323
[iv] Heller, pg. 1
[v] Lears, pg. 339-41
[vi] Lears, pg. 340
[vii] Lears, pg. 342
[viii] Heller, pg. 2, AIGA
[ix] Lears, pg. 341
[x] Bader, pg. 325
[xi] Bader, pg. 323-326
[xii] Paley, pg. 26
[xiii] Heller, pg. 2 AIGA
[xiv] Random House Kids, Biography
[xv] Simon Cahn, pg. 123
[xvi] Simon Cahn, pg. 124
[xvii] Paley, pg. 26
[xviii] Heller, pg. 2, New York Times